The Pacific Ocean and El Niño effect in Peru

The cold water of the Pacific Ocean brought by the Humboldt current, makes its water rich in plankton which supports a rich variety of fish and marine animals as well as birds who feed from the fish. Fish and its byproducts are an important source of economic activity in the coast and an important part of food resource for the local population.

Every few years a stream of warm water originating in the equator flows south, warming the cold waters that support the plankton. When the plankton dies, fish stock decreases therefore bringing death to marine animals. Some of these animals such as the Humboldt penguins, sea lions, and turtles are in danger of extinction; they also affect the population of migrating birds. This phenomenon is known by Peruvians as El Niño, named after Baby Jesus because it happens in December at around Christmas.

The Amazon River flows east from the Peruvian Andes across Brazil and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. In 2000, a National Geographic Society expedition found that its most distant source is the melting snow cap of a mountain called Nevado Mismi in the Peruvian Andes.

Animals of the Amazon Rainforest

The Amazon Rainforest is home to more than 1,000 species of frogs. The Poison-dart frog is by far the most poisonous frog on earth.
The Amazon Rainforest is also home to more than 10,000 species of mammals, 1,500 species of birds and the Amazon River and its tributaries have more than 3,000 species of fish.